Isn't it a hell-deserving sin for Christian men to have long hair & Christian women to have short hair?

Question

1 Corinthians 11:14-15: "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15: But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering."

Let me see how Christians are going to rationalize this one.

That's why you can't believe the 'morality' of the bible.

That's why you can't believe & practice contradictory bible morality.

Answer 1

Good one. And don't you find it rather funny that so many are saying that Jesus had long hair? I guess people really do believe he was as white as paper with blonde hair too. *Sigh*

Answer 2

Volatile topic -- people still debate it. And if you just yank the verses out of any context, they seem very emphatic and clear... but aren't actually quite as clear as they look.

Paul's writing a letter to the Corinthian church, culled from secular society, and he's trying to set a baseline for what the church should look like when placed against secular society. (Nothing has yet been established.)

So Paul's admonition has to be framed against the secular pratices of the day, the significance in the culture of short hair for women (i.e., social context), and so forth. He's setting a standard in order to reduce confusion in the newly established church. "Hell-deserving" sin has little to do with it; he's simply arguing from human reason and general religious precendence here. He wants to draw a visible distinction between men and women, as well as between pagan worshippers / prostitutes and women.

[Example: Women guilty of adultery, for example, often had their hair shorn. Temple prostitutes often had their heads shaved. Paul wants to avoid sending that contextual signal... rather like the fact that, although the symbol later called a swastika existed long before Hitler, no one uses it nowadays because it's become contextually connected to the Nazis.]

We know that v14 wasn't a straight-across the board condemnation of long hair on men -- the Nazarites (?) were a sect where NOT cutting one's hair was a sign of devotion to God. (Samson in the OT was one of these.) Paul knew this, as a strict practitioner of the Law, so it colors how we read the hair admonition.

[Note: We also aren't given a definition of what "long" and "short" is -- all we know is that "short" is "shorter than long," and vice versa. If hair legalism was the point, then an actual measurement would have been given, right?]

Anyway, if you do some research, you can uneasily uncover more of the Roman culture of that time and the way that hair length / exposure was viewed in that culture. While some opt for a more isolated interpretation of the verse(s), to me, social context is a powerful argument and makes the most sense.

Answer 3

You are going all the way back to Corinthians again, you know we follow Jesus.

I have short hair because the Army said they didn't want any long haired Colombian style crack cocaine dealer types joining up and so i maintained the habit.

Personally though, i like to see women with long natural healthy hair, but i also understand that it takes quite a bit of work keeping it looking nice when it's longer. So that's why some women just chop it off.

Answer 4

That is taken out of context.
Paul was disgussing headship. Read the bible before you get to that verse. 1Cor. 11:9 Man was not created for the sake of the women but the women was made for the man.
So men are to take care of women not the other way around.
In return women are to view the man as the head of the household. It is his responsibility to take care of the family.
So when women pray for others they should cover there head to show that they realize they are in subjection to the man.
He was using hair as an illustration. Usually women have thicker and more hair and usually they wear it longer than a man does.
this is not always the case some women in Africa barely have any hair at all. While some tribes of Indians men had very long hair. The point he was trying to make had to do with subjection not hair styles. Some women their hair won't grow very long so does that make them condemed when God him self created them and there hair?
So the point being women are in subjection to men and when they pray for others out of respect they should wear a head covering.

Answer 5

Not all parts of the bible are for religious purposes. I think this was just cultural advice for the era and not meant as a "sin" sort of thing.

Don't take everything too literal.

Some people say Jesus had long hair..look at some of the pictures..i wonder which ones are accurate.

Answer 6

It is no sin at all. Long hair makes women look beautiful but short hair makes them look younger. We call it first lady style. men can have long hair as well. All that was during then when man was directly ruled by God himself. Now man rules himself. Long hair on a man's head when he does good has no harm at all. likewise

Answer 7

Just off the highest of my head, the Corinthian letters talk of guys and ladies overlaying their hair, and that is wherein the concept of it being impolite to put on a hat within got here from I feel. But not anything approximately chopping.

Answer 8

Simply off the highest of my head, the Corinthian letters communicate of men and females protecting their hair, and this is the place the inspiration of it being impolite to put on a hat within came from I feel. But nothing about cutting.

Answer 9

It doesn't say it's a hell-deserving sin, it says that it's a shame. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to interpret that in today's terms.

Answer 10

Honey, there is a difference between a 'shame' and a 'hell-deserving sin' .

Your own quote recognizes that. Why don't you?